Why we love Robert Crumb.

From an article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer about the just published Sophie Crumb: Evolution of a Crazy Artist, a collection of original art drawn by the daughter of Crumb and his wife, Aline Kominsky-Crumb from childhood until the present day:

Her father, the creator of such sprung-from-the-subconscious counterculture icons as Mr. Natural and Fritz the Cat, points with pride to a pencil drawing his daughter did when she was barely 3: "Here's the first one with genitalia."

Checking out the ambulatory deceased.

I decided to pass on AMC's new hit show, The Walking Dead, right from the start, an attitude that was only strengthened when they canceled the intrigued, albeit flawed, Rubicon, as a result of its success.

I knew a lot about the show's background because the source material is a comics series for which my online mail-order subscription service has several subscribers and I am not much of a fan of the horror genre, especially when it's visual. The fact that I knew that that the putative hero's son was named "Carl," a fact that could potentially swing me to cheering for the zombies due to psychological scars I don't wish to discuss, was also a deterrent.

But, taking a break from football and reading all day, I watched a repeat of the first episode just now. God help me, they may have drawn me in. Still not sure which side I'm on though, due to that "Carl" issue.

Dick Giordano, RIP

Today saw the passing of, or at least the reporting of the passing of, one of my favorites pros in the comics business.

Long ago and far away, I happened to be in NYC on the day that the first issue of Shazam!, the DC comic which brought back Captain Marvel, "the Big Red Cheese," to the comics world (the title, referencing the magic word that turned young Billy Batson into "the World's Mightiest Mortal," was the result of Marvel Comics have already released a Captain Marvel title).

I picked up a payphone (like I said, "long ago and far away") and called the DC offices to ask to come in and see Shazam! editor Julie Schwartz. This was long before I began writing for the trade press and, eventually, DC itself, understand. I was just a guy off the street, but they said, come on in.

Dick was the guy they sent me to when I arrive and he passed me on to Julie, who answered all my questions, called in writer Denny O'Neill and gave me a copy of issue #1 signed by both of them. It was a great, spontaneous afternoon.

I don't remember ever interviewing Julie again but I talked with Dick many times over the years and our in-person exchanges only cemented his reputation as a thoroughly professional, thoroughly likable Good Guy.

That's as good an epitaph as any of us could hope for. 

For comics/SF nerds only....

...because the link was sent to me by one of your number.

And she doesn't look a day over 16.

This is one of those dirty little secrets that would stay that way if I had any sense, but I've always had this inexplicable fondness for the comic strip Luann and so, with the grand caveat from Pascal, the heart has reasons that reason cannot know, I feel the need to celebrated it's 25th year in print this week.

And, hey, if the strip has lasted a quarter century, I guess I'm not alone.

Comical book fans, have I got a site for you.

If the weather where you are is anything like the weather where I are, you're likely going to spend the afternoon and a goodly portion of the weekend indoors, before a fire if you're lucky.

How to kill all that free time aside from re-watching the health care debate or yet another old movie is an obvious question. Fortunately, obvious is what we do best around here.

(Before we start, by the way, I can only hope you're stocked up on good beer, 'cause that's the way I roll.)

Okay, begin the afternoon by checking out Tony Isabella's 1000 Comics Books You Must Read and ordering yourself a copy if you don't already have one. That will kill a couple of hours (15 minutes to place the order; many more minutes wondering how long it will take to arrive and whether you did the order right).

The read this story and once again bemoan the fact that your mother threw out all your comics while you were distracted by discovering the opposite (sadly, once you discovered those alien creatures were not as faithful as superheroes, it was too late to get those four-color delights back). Spend as much time as your imagination can handle imagining how your life might be different if you'd fended off mom and her crazy need for tidiness.

Warning: depending on beer consumption at this point, your fantasies might get somewhat weird.

Warning two: you may not notice.

Finally, the pièce de résistance: after Wired Magazine posted a gallery of classic comic book covers as part of a piece on the Isabella book, readers chipped in with a list of their own favorites, 20 of them. This visual feast will play into the themes of regret underlying the paragraph above and lead to further contemplation and...hey, what do you know, it's time for dinner.

See, that was easy.

Now then, how do you then get through the night?

Sorry, gang, that one's on you.

Another perspective....

...on this issue. Peter David offers an argument that's difficult to refute, damn his hide. People smarter and more thoughtful than I ought to be banned from the internet so I don't get crushed so often.

If You Know What "JSA" Stands For, This Post Is For You.

DC Comics fans who missed last night's two-hour Geoff Johns'-authored "Smallville event," Absolute Justice, really shouldn't have.

Great fun and, I thought, pretty impressive for a CW network show with a limited budget. Not to worry, though; this one is sure to be rerun and likely released on DVD and BlueRay. And if you do get a chance to see it and are unfamiliar with the various changes in the Superman Mythos made on Smallville (which has had such a strong "last" season that it's blown away that designation and will be back next year), here are few basics you need:

Lex Luthor and his father Lionel were the ongoing villains in the early years; the latter was halfway a good guy and knows Clark's real identity 

The current ongoing villain is General Zod

Lana Lang was Clark's sweetheart early on, Lois Lane was introduced as a cousin of Chloe (see below) later on; Lana went away, came back to have a bit of sexual fun with Clark, then went away again; Lois and Clark are also doing the dirty at this point [this point has been contested by "Superman" fan]

Chloe Sullivan is a new character, sort of the "Oracle" of the group (you need to know the Batman Mythos to understand that characterization; she and a long gone Pete Ross were the first, and for a long time only, ones to know Clark's real identity

Tess Mercer now runs Luthor Corp and the Daily Planet; she is sorta good/evil and knows/suspects Clark's real identity

Green Arrow is a regular character and Martian Manhunter a recurring one

Various DC characters, those mentioned at the linked review above plus Supergirl, Aquaman, a Wally West Flash, the Legion of Super-Heroes and others, have appeared over the years; most, if not all, know Clark's real idenity

There was a Jimmy Olsen character, married or nearly married to Chloe (I forget which) and that storyline had to do with Doomsday; a younger Jimmy was then briefly introduced as his cousin or something but has not been seen since

Pa Kent is dead; Ma Kent (who had a fling with Lionel Luthor [this point has been contested by "Superman Fan"]) is now a US Senator and is gone from the storyline

Clark has a Fortress of Solitude, has been back to Krypton and has met his real father, Jor-El

Clark has never appeared in public as a superhero and is known as the "red and blue blur" in newspaper accounts (not his famed costume but a red jacket and blue pants he wears); producers have promised that he will appear as Superman in the series finale

Update: See two corrections added above to deal with "Superman fan's" obsessions with the "purity" of the main gals in Clark's life.

Who Will Watch the Money Men?

This is terrible news for fans of what was arguably the greatest superhero series ever, certainly one that dramatically changed the face of modern comics.